Training and elevating mechanism for guns.



J P. MEIGS & H. G. JAKOBSSON. TRAINING AND BLEVATING MECHANISM FOR GUNS.

. APPLICATION FILED JAN.6, 1909. 7

958,51 5 Patented May 17, 1910.

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w wweoom J. F. MEIGS & H. G. JAKOBSSON.

TRAINING AND ELEVATING MECHANISM FOR GUNS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.6,1909.

958,515. Patented May 17,1910.

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APPLICATION FILED JAILB, 1909.

Patented May 1'7, 1910.

4 SHEETSSHBBT 3.

F. MHIGS &-H.

G. JAKOBSSON.

TRAINING AND ELEVATING MECHANISM FOR GUNS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 6, 1909.

Patented May 17, 1910.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

witnesses ANDREW a GRAMAM co.. mmo-umoamsnzng wAsmNomN. u. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN F. MEIGS AND HERMAN G. J AKOBSSON OF SOUTH BETHL'EHEM,PENNSYLVANIA,

ASSIGNORS TO BETHLEHEM STEEL COMPANY, OF SOUTH BETHLEHEM, PENNSYL-VANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

TRAINING AND ELEVATING'MECHANISM FOR GUNS.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN F. MEIGS and HERMAN G. J AKOBSSON, a citizenof the United States and a subject of the King of Sweden, respectively,residing at South Bethlehem, Northampton county, State of Pennsylvania,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Training andElevating Mechanism for Guns, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention consists in a variable speed mechanism wherebyeither the training or elevating mechanism of a gun, or both, may beoperated at different speeds as compared with the speed of the handwheels, to suit the requirements of different conditions. For instance,the gunner may follow a rapidly moving object or target, either inelevation or azimuth, without a correspondingly rapid movement of thehand wheels, by throwing into operation high speed gears or he mayfollow a slowly moving object without materiallychanging the speed ofhishand gear by throwing into operation other gears suitablyproportioned, or in pointing the gun at an object or target in case thegun is mounted upon a ship which is rolling, the gunner may throw highspeed gears into operation during that period of the roll when themovement of the ship is greatest, and may throw into operation low speedgears when there is least movement of the ship.

The invention further consists in means or throwing the different setsof gears into and out of operation without discontinuance of themovement .of the hand wheels or cranks.

The invention will be described in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, in which,

Figure l is a side view of a portion of a gun and its carriage embodyingthe present invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of the hand wheelstandard and the devices for shifting from one set of gears to anotherby hand or foot power; Fig. 3 is an elevation of the same partly insection on the line 3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a sectional view illustratingthe operation of the springs which are used in shifting the clutch; Fig.5 is a sectional viewthrough the clutch; Fig. 6v is a plan view of theclutch and the lower gearwith which it cooperates; Fig. 7 is aSpecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 6, 1909.

Patented May 17, 1910.

Serial No. 471,009.

plan'illustrating one form of treadle which can be used for shifting theclutch; Fig. 8 is a detail of the handle shown in Fig. 2 for shiftingthe clutch; Fig. 9 is a side view partly in section. of the hand wheelstandard, illustrating another form of the devices for shifting. fromone set of gears to another; Fig. .10 is a sectional view illustratingsome of the intermediate parts for shifting the clutch when using thetreadle.

Referring to Fig. l of the drawing, 20 indicates the gun tube, which ishung on trunnions 2lsupported upon a suitable carriage or base 22. Itwill be understood that the gun is provided with gearing suitable formoving it about its vertical and horizontal axes for training andelevating, it being unnecessary to illustrate such gearing in' detailfor the purposes of the present application.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, 23 indicates a shaft which is driven by handwheel mechanism to be hereinafter described and which in turn isconnected with the training and elevating mechanism to drive the latter.The upper end of the shaft 23 has a bearing 24 in a bracket 25 which ismounted on a standard 26 through which the shaft passes. A horizontalshaft 27 is also mounted in bearings in the bracket 25 and rigidlyconnected with this horizontal shaft are two hand wheels or cranks A, B,provided respectively with rotatable handles a, b. Rigidly connectedwith the crank disk A are two bevel gears c, d, which intermeshrespectively with two gears 0, cl, adapted to rotate freely about theaxis of the shaft 23. As will be apparent from inspection of Fig. 3 thecrank handles a, I), move in opposite directions simultaneously withrespect to the operator; that is, when the handle a is being movedtoward the operator the handle I) is moved away from him and vice versa.The effect of this is that the operator is able to exert more power onthe apparatus than with a single handle, while at the same time he cankeep his body steadier and use the sighting devices much moreeffectively than when the body is swayed by the use of a single handle.By the use of two handles the operator can also. hold his body steadierwhile operating the pedals to change the gears, thus facilitating hiswork in sighting Either of the gears, 0, d, may be rigidly connectedwith the shaft 23, at will, by means of a clutch device of any suitablecharacter. The preferred form of such device, as shown comprises asleeve 28 surrounding the shaft 23 and free to slide vertically thereon,but compelled to turn with said shaft by means of a suitable spline. Onthe upper end of the sleeve 28 is a toothed wheel or flange 29 (Figs. 5and 6) which is adapted to interlock with complementary teeth formed inrecesses in the upper and lower sides respectively of the gears 0, cl.WVhen the sleeve 28 is in its lowest position it interlocks the gear 0with the shaft 23 and the shaft is driven by the gear 0 at the higher ofthe two rates of speed provided by the means illustrated, and when thesleeve 28 is interlocked with the gear (5, the shaft 23 is driven by thesimilar gear d, at a lower rate of speed as compared with the speed ofthe crank disks.

Referring to Figs. 5 and 6, 60 indicates a ring or idler which ismounted between and eo-axial with the gears c, d. This idler 1s soconstructed that the clutch gear 29 can pass through it and it is asthick as, and slightly thicker than, the clutch disk so that in shiftingfrom one of the gears c, d, to the other the clutch disk will pass anintermediate position in which it is disconnected from both, this for apurpose to be presently described. As shown, the idler is a plain ringseated in an annular recess in the gear 0 and held therein by the geard, the parts being loosely adjusted so that there is practically nofriction between the ring and the gears.

The sleeve 29 may be adjusted into engagement with either of the gears0, (Z, by various means. As shown in Fig. 3 a collar 30 on the lower endof the sleeve is provided with trunnions 31 which are engaged by arms 32on a rock shaft 33. On the outer end of the shaft 33 is an arm 34 towhich a vertically arranged rod 35 is pivotally connected. The rod 35slides in fixed bearings 36, 37, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. About midwaybetween the bearings 36, 37, a collar or enlargement 3-8 is securelyconnected to the rod 35 and above and below the collar 38 are disks orcups 39, 40, which are free to slide upon the rod 35. Between the disk39 and the bearing 36 is a coiled spring 41 and a similar spring 42 isarranged between the disk 40 and the bearing 37.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, 43 indicates a lever, one arm of which isforked, the two branches 43 of the fork being arranged on opposite sidesof the fixed collar 38 and between the disks 39 and 40. As shown inthese figures the lever 43 is connected with a treadle 44 by two rods 45arranged respectively on opposite sides of the fulcrum of the lever andthe treadle, so that every movement of the treadle will be communicatedpositively to the lever. The treadle may be operated in any suitablemanner. As shown, it is provided with a foot piece 46 by means of which,when the foot piece is pressed down, the forked end of the lever 43 willbe moved upward. To move the treadle and the lever 43 positively in theopposite direction, we provide a cr0ss-lever 47 having a foot piece 48,as shown particularly in Figs. 2, 3 and 7. The foot piece 48 is mountedon one end of the cross-lever 47 and the other end thereof is looselyinterlocked or pivotally connected with the treadle 44. By .depressingthe foot piece 48 the foot piece 46 is thrown up and the movement of thetreadle reversed, which moves the forked arm of the lever 43 downwardly.

The operation of the devices above described is as follows: The clutch29 being in its lower position, as shown in Figs. 3 and 5, the shaft 23will be driven by the gears c, 0, at the higher of the two speedsprovided by the mechanism shown in the drawing. If, now, it be desiredto operate the training or elevating mechanism at a slower speed whilemaintaining substantially the same speed of movement of the crank disks,the foot piece 48 is pressed down, raising the foot piece 46 and forcingdown the fork arm 43 of'the lever 43. This moves the disk 40 downwardlycompressing the spring 42 and releasing the disk 39, which is underpressure of the spring 41. The spring 41 therefore tends to move thecollar 38 and the rod 35 downwardly and yieldingly presses the clutchdisk 29 upward until itis stopped by the clutch teeth of the gear d. Thecontinued movement of the crank disks presently brings the clutch teethof the gear cl into register with the spaces between the teeth of theclutch 29 and the spring 41 then acts further to throw the clutch diskinto engagement with the gear d, which connects said gear with the shaft23 and permits of driving the training or elevating mechanism at a lowerspeed while maintaining substantially the same speed of movement of thecrank. disks.

It will be evident that with the mechanism above described the changefrom one speed to another can be effected without taking either handfrom the cranks or stopping their movement and without disturbing thegunner or causing him to lose sight of the object upon which he istraining the gun. If the idler 60 were not interposed bet-ween the gearsa, (Z, the clutch teeth might cause some stoppage in the turning of thecrank disks in passing from one gear to the other and thus annoy ordisconeert the gunner and for this reason the idler 60, or someequivalent thereof, is highly important. Instead of the idler a suitablespace intervening be tween the clutch teeth of the gears will besuflicient, but the idler as shown closes the space between the gearsand renders the same dust proof. It will be seen that in the forms abovedescribed we do not positively shift the clutch but simply place aspring under tension to move it when it comes into register with thegear to which it is directed. In this manner no interlocking of thegears by means of the clutch is possible and the clutch moves quicklyinto mesh with the gear toward which it is directed at the firstopportunity.

In some instances it may be preferable to shift the clutch by hand andfor this reason we may provide a handle for shifting the lever 43. Asshown in Figs. 2 and 8, a handle 56 is mounted directly on the end ofthe lever 43. The handle is provided with a pin 51 on the inner end ofwhich is a head 52. Surrounding the pin is a spring 53 which bears onthe head and tends to move it inward. A rounded projection 54 on thehead 52 engages recesses 55 on a fixed part of the carriage to hold thelever 43 yieldingly in either of its operative positions. To shift theclutch the handle 56 is pulled out to release the detent 54 and thenshifted until the detent registers with the other recess 55. This putsone or other of the springs 41, 42, under tension to shift the clutchand the clutch disk will thereafter be shifted when its teeth registerwith the gear toward which it is impelled by the spring. By arrangingthe springs to move the clutch we are enabled to shift the lever 43either by foot or hand power instantly without waiting for the gears toturn so that the clutch may move to the desired position. When footpower is used the hands need not be removed from the crank handles andwhen hand power is used, it is only necessary to remove one hand for aninstant to shift the lever 43.

In Figs. 9 and 10 we have shown a form of clutch shifting mechanismwhich is positively operated, preferably by foot power, and which wehave found to work satisfactorily. In this form of the invention thesprings for shifting the clutch are omitted and the rod 35 is positivelyconnected with the treadle, which is of the form heretofore described. Ashown in Fig. 10 a collar '65 is fixed to the rod 35 between the guides36 and 37, said collar having flanges 65 65 The fork 43 of the lever 43engages these flanges and moves the rod 35 positively up and down as thelever 43 is rocked. By pressing on one or other of the foot pieces 46,48 of the treadle, pressure up or down is communicated to the rod 35tending to shift the clutch 29 and the clutch shifts immediately when itcomes into register with the recesses in the gear 0 or d toward which itis being moved. This form of the mechanism is found to worksatisfactorily and has some advantages in simplicity and economy overthe forms of the clutch shifting mechanism heretofore described, inwhich the springs are used.

It will be evident that our invention in its broad aspect may beembodied in many different mechanical forms and hence we desire itunderstood that we do not limit ourselves to the precise constructionand arrangement of parts illustrated and described herein. In thefollowing claims we will use the term manually operated in a sense broadenough to cover either the handle or the treadle for shifting the clutchor any other means operated by foot or hand power for this purpose.

-What we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,

1. In training and elevating mechanism for guns, the combination of adrive shaft, a crank shaft, a plurality of sets of gears adapted toconnect said crank shaft and drive shaft to effect different relativemovements thereof, a clutch for rendering any one of said sets of gearsoperative at will, and manually operated means, including a springconnection for throwing said clutch.

2. In training and elevating mechanism for guns, the combination of adrive shaft,

a crank shaft, a plurality of sets of gearsadapted to connect said crankshaft and drive shaft to effect different relative movements thereof, aclutch for throwing the different sets of gears into and out ofoperation, a treadle for moving the clutch, and means for placing saidtreadle under pressure to move the clutch in either direction, asdesired, for the purpose set forth.

3. In training and elevating mechanism for guns, the combination of adrive shaft, a crank shaft, a plurality of sets of gears adapted toconnect said crank shaft and drive shaft to effect different relativemovements thereof, a clutch for rendering different sets of gearsoperative at will, springs adapted to throw said clutch in oppositedirections, and means for placing either of said springs under tensionto move the clutch yieldingly into the desired position, for the purposeset forth.

4. In training and elevating mechanism for guns, the combination of adrive shaft, a crank shaft, a plurality of sets of gears adapted toconnect said crank shaft and drive shaft to effect different relativemovements thereof, a clutch for rendering either of said sets of gearsoperative, springs adapted to throw the clutch in either directiondesired, a manually operated lever adapted to place either of saidsprings under tension to shift the clutch, and means for holding saidlever in its operative positions.

5. In training and elevating mechanism for guns, the combination with adrive shaft and a crank shaft, of means for communieating to the driveshaft from the crank shaft different speeds relative to the speed of thecrank shaft, said means including a clutch, a spring for moving theclutch in one direction, and means for putting said spring under tensionto move the clutch.

6. In training and elevating mechanism for guns, the combination with adrive shaft and a crank shaft, of means for communicating to the driveshaft from the crank shaft different speeds relative to the'speed of thecrank shaft, said means including a clutch, an arm connected to throwthe clutch, a rod connected to said arm, a pair of springs mounted onthe rod, a fixed abutment, and a movable abutment for each spring, ashoulder on the rod against which said movable abutments are normallypressed by the springs, and means for shifting said movable abutmentsand compressing the springs, for the purpose set forth.

7. In training and elevating mechanism for guns, the combination with adrive shaft and a crank shaft, of means for communieating to the driveshaft from the crank shaft different speeds relative to the speed of thecrank shaft, said means including two sets of speedgears, a clutch forrendering either of said sets of gears operative, and a treadle forshifting the clutch, whereby the operator may shift the clutch Withoutremoving his hand from the handle of the crank shaft.

8. In training and elevating mechanism for guns, the combination with adrive shaft and a crank shaft provided wit-h two oppositely disposedhandles, of means for communicating to the drive shaft from the crankshaft different speeds relative to the speed of the crank shaft, saidmeans including a clutch, and a treadle for shifting the clutch wherebythe operator may change the relative speed of the shafts withoutremoving his hands from the crank shaft handles.

9. In training and elevating mechanism for guns, the combination with adrive shaft and a crank shaft provided with two oppositely disposedhandles, of means for communicating to the drive shaft from the crankshaft different speeds relative to the speed of the crank shaft, saidmeans including a clutch, and a treadle having two foot pieces movablein opposite directions whereby the treadle may be positively moved ineither direct-ion, for the purpose set forth.

10. In a training and elevating mechanism for guns, the combination of adrive shaft, a crank shaft, two oppositely disposed crank handles onsaid crank shaft adapted to move simultaneously in opposite directionswith respect to the operator, a plurality of sets of gears adapted toconnect said crank shaft and drive shaft to effect different relativemovement thereof, a clutch for rendering any one of said sets of gearsoperative at will, and manually operated means for throwing said clutch.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in presence of twoWitnesses.

' JOHN F. MEIGS.

HERMAN G. JAKOBSSON.

Witnesses:

LEIGHTON N. D. MIXSEEL, HARVEY L. Nnsss.

